Recharge
by Fork-Tongued-Nemesis
Summary: As much as Ratchet loved helping Optimus with his future plans to stop the Decepticons, he felt that there was something else that needed discussing. "Yes, we do." He said with an inclination of his head. OptimusPrime/Ratchet centric.


_Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. _

_Warnings: Fluff (lots of it) and a little smut. _

_Pairings: Optimus Prime/Ratchet, Mild Sideswipe/Sunstreaker and mentions of Jazz/Prowl._

_((Anything in double brackets in itialics is another title for another part of the story, something like a drabble series towards the end. You'll understand once you read it. Have fun you guys.))_

_X-X-X-X_

Ratchet sat next to his most recent patient thanks to some Decepticon Seekers attacking him while alone; although it was his own fault since he'd moved away from his twin in order to take on Soundwave, therefore had gotten himself bombarded with bullets and then smacked about by Soundwave himself. The kid always had to best everyone else; never in his time with Sideswipe had he seen him do something so reckless. Working with the mech always gave him great pleasure since he was one of the Autobots best shooters; alongside his brother that is, otherwise the inevitable happened, like being on Ratchets med berth.

He gave a sigh of utter frustration as he pulled at some loose wiring in the mechs hip, trying to reconstruct the whole thing since Ironhide had to cart his aft across the battlefield and then to safety, while covering his own aft in the process which had proven to be difficult with his one arm being occupied with the wilted mech. Falling unconscious just because you felt safe in the other mechs presence was not something you did on a battlefield; Ratchet didn't care who you were.

He pulled another wire loose, hearing a strangled whimper come from the mech who was supposed to be in recharge on the berth. He looked up and glared straight into the bright blue optics of his fallen comrade. He was reluctant to speak since he figured that his silence and eyes would do the talking; obviously the twin didn't know the meaning of it.

"Where's everyone else?" Was the first thing he'd said to Ratchet, and Ratchet was pissed.

"They're injuries weren't as bad as yours, so Prime issued me to tend to your sorry aft first." He told the other while looking back down to the wiring in his hand. He gave a gentle tug on it, hearing the hiss of his friend's vocalizer. "I'll be seeing them tomorrow morning." He told the other, his denta were grit to the point of chafing, and his optics looked up once more. "Why'd you try to take on Soundwave by yourself, you aft?" He asked the twin.

Sideswipe visibly stiffened, his processor just catching on to what had actually happened. That fragger Soundwave had actually taken him down, and with just cause too. "It wasn't..."

Ratchet was quick to cut him off: "What it seemed?" He finished the others sentence and growled low in his vocalizer. "You were supposed to stick with your brother, but instead you left him to sort out that idiot trine on his own!" He told the other with all the exasperation he could muster.

Sideswipe frowned and growled low in his own vocalizer. "That wasn't what happened at all!" He shouted at the medic. He went to sit up and ended up hissing at the pain in his hip, and was then pushed back down, albeit gently by Ratchet.

"Easy mad-spark, lie back down." Ratchet said calmly. "Alright, then tell me what happened." He told the other, his voice calm as he worked on pulling and prying at the metal of Sideswipes hip.

Sideswipe visibly winced at the treatment, his body not used to the tugging of Ratchet when he should have been. "Soundwave almost hit Sunny in the spark Ratch', and to be honest with you, I was about ready to kill 'im for it." He admitted while looking up at the ceiling. "I just... recently I've been more protective of Sunny than usual, and it's never been this bad." He looked to Ratchet, a quizzical look in his optics. "I know that it may sound stupid and probably confusing for you, I mean, it is for me; but I feel like... I dunno, like I'm feeling more of a connection to him lately." He admitted bashfully while lifting a servo; his right in order to inspect it in front of his face. "I think... as crazy as it sounds, I'm in love with him, my own brother..." He said this as though it were unheard of, but there was a slight pang in his chest as his spark ached for that connection, hit body wanting nothing more than to get free of Ratchet and his hands to just hold onto his brother.

Ratchet looked up at him and calmly asked: "Have you fragged him yet?" He asked.

Sideswipe was taken aback at the bluntness of the question, and stuttered; "WH-what do you mean?" He asked incredulously.

"You know, interfaced with him?" The medic asked, he sat back in his chair, letting go of Sideswipes hip much to the red mechs relief. "Don't tell me you've never fragged him before." It was an order rather than a question since he knew of the twins habits with one another, but he wanted to hear it from Sideswipe himself.

Sideswipe was shuddering on the berth at the prospect of Ratchet knowing what he and Sunny got up to when not on missions, and that's what made his face plates heat up. He held his servo to his forehead, a pained expression on his face, as if he were ashamed of what Ratchet would say to his answer. "How did you know?" He asked.

Ratchet knew that Sideswipe may not have been the quickest with his processor, but he also knew that the mech wasn't stupid either. He grinned and sat forward in his chair. "You need to learn to shut the door properly Sideswipe, not to mention you're both pretty loud. I think that I'm the only one who's caught you though, and that stays that way." He said while shaking his helm at the other. He quickly moved to put the wiring back into Sideswipes hip, a relieved tension moving through the room as Sideswipe felt relief of being put to rest with his hip. "You know how the others are; they're going to think the wrong thing." He closed Sideswipes armour over the wound, the piece of metal covering the expanse of wires and needing a new batch of paint. "And if you love Sunny, then I suggest you tell it to him quickly, since I've noticed how Jazz has been eyeing him up recently."

Sideswipe sat up, his hip working wonders as he gave Ratchet a panicked and confused look. "I thought he was in love with Prowl?" He asked.

Ratchet stood from his chair to put his tools away. "You don't have to be in love to interface Sides." He told the other.

Sideswipe felt jealousy rear its ugly head and stood from the berth, stretching his aching limbs. "Can I go now?" He could feel Sunny poking at their twin bond, asking him what was wrong.

::_Sides? Sides are you alright?_:: He was pushing his concern through the bond too, showing Sideswipe that he was worried for his older brother.

Ratchet just waved him off, his focus mostly on his tools as he shelved them.

Sideswipe moved toward the door, his steps fluent like always. He paused to look back at Ratchet, the door whooshing open in front of him. "I'll follow your advice, but I think you need to follow it more than I do." He told the medic before beginning to walk out; a brief 'Thank Ratch' thrown over his shoulder.

Ratchet's shoulders slumped at the prospect of telling his Leader how he felt, of course it had crossed his mind a few times, but he'd never actually gotten around to doing it. He gave another sigh as he placed his welding tool on the rack it was meant to be on, his movements slow as he went into his office to fill in his reports before recharging.

_X-X-X-X_

Ratchet looked up to his office door as he heard the doors to the med bay open, his optics not being able to see who it was. He looked back down to his data pad and announced; "You'd better be falling apart." He said while jotting a few more things down onto the pad in his hand.

A voice he recognised too well sifted through the air, a deep chuckle accompanying it.

"Now, now Ratchet, you're supposed to be a medic, please act so and show a 'bot some sympathy."

Optimus Prime, his Leader and love interest stood in the door to his office, his hand knocking on the door while a grin was etched to his faceplates.

"Knock, knock." Optimus said comically, making Ratchet laugh gently.

Ratchet shook his head while looking up from his data pad. "I don't give sympathy to those who take advantage of my hospitality Prime, but I guess you're an exception." He told the other. "How do you feel?" He asked softly.

Optimus noticed the slight pang of gentleness toward his person and smiled while inclining his head and walking into the office. "I'm alright, how was Sideswipe?" He asked the medic professionally. "I hadn't seen him at all last night; you kicked us all out when I said to patch him up first."

Ratchet shrugged. "He's alright, no long term damage, unless he comes in here with a busted hip." He thought idly to himself; '_Which he just might after last night..._'

Optimus nodded once more and moved closer to Ratchet, his form large and intimidating to most but not his friend. "And you?" He asked with genuine concern. He looked at all of the scattered data pads along the desk, his face plates pulling to a frown. "Have you been up filling these in all night?" He asked the medic, his voice growing with his concern. "I thought I told you to get some recharge straight after Sideswipe was fixed up?" The Prime asked Ratchet.

Ratchet scoffed and looked about his desk, seeing all of the work he'd been doing. "I needed to finish them, hadn't really noticed anything blinking at me for recharge." He said with a dismissive shrug.

Optimus moved to lean on the desk, the data pads under his hands and away from Ratchet's gaze. He leaned in close, his optics stern as he looked Ratchet straight in the optics. "Get some recharge." He told the medic.

Ratchet almost slid his chair back with how close Optimus was, his optics slightly wide as he regarded what his Prime had just said. "I need to finish- WAH!"

He was abruptly picked up and cradled in his Primes arms, data pad falling to the floor and cracking. His body went rigid as he was carried out of his office, his processor delaying his reaction until he finally realised and caught up to the situation. He started flailing in Optimus' arms, his arms pushing at his chest in a vain attempt to get out of his Leader's grasp.

"Put me down, Prime! This is so undignified!" He started shouting at the other 'bot, profanities with a '_frag_' here and a '_glitch_' there, and then the inevitable; '_you incompetent bucket head!_' courtesy of Starscream while in one of his violent fits with Megatron, and on the battlefield no less. He finally gave in and slumped against the chest he was being held to, his frame sagging in Optimus' arms. He murmured to his Prime: "You better hope that no one sees us you fragger..." and then just let his helm rest on the armoured chassis, his arms laying on his abdomen in submission. He didn't miss the smug smile on his Leader's face as he was taken further into the base, the corridors empty of other 'bots.

"Where is everyone?" He asked the larger mech. "I thought Prowl and Jazz were supposed to be on duty today?"

Prime smiled again, softly that time. "I told them to keep their selves open to an attack, but otherwise they could have the day off." He told the medic in his arms. He turned his helm to Ratchet, his face plates showing his smug smile once again. "I give you the same relief; Wheeljack and First Aid can take care of med bay for a day, I'm sure." He told the other mech, coming at a stop in front of a large door.

Ratchet at this point had looked to said door and noticed it was twice his size; it was Primes berth room. "Uh, Prime?" He asked while looking up at the younger mech. He pointed with a servo in the direction that they'd just walked and said; "My berth room's that way."

Prime looked to the door and touched the access pad, balancing Ratchet in his arms with ease and walked through the whooshing door. "I know." He said simply.

Ratchet looked about himself, having been in there before for a private meeting with Prime, Prowl and Jazz at some point, he recognised the desk against the wall that was opposite his berth which was twice the size of him. A large table, Cybertronian design sat in the middle of the room with chairs and a holographic projector situated in the middle, a stray cube of energon lie on its side on the table next to a large data pad that was lit up with a blue light.

He unconsciously grabbed a hold of Prime's chest, worry etched onto his features when he was lowered to a berth; Prime's berth. This felt rather strange, lying on his love interests berth, it was just like sending the medic an open invitation to an interfacing session, but he knew better than that. Prime would never do something like that, heck; he didn't do that to anyone, especially Ratchet.

Putting Ratchet onto his berth was a means of keeping an eye on him, or so he told himself. It made him feel better to think that he was actually doing it to make sure that the medic would get his recharge properly, but he knew why he'd done it; it was a soul invitation, one that was expressing his feelings for the medic, and he hoped that Ratchet would take it that way. Although, Ratchet had no reason to believe otherwise, Prime mused.

He moved a step away from the berth, confident that his CMO would stay on the berth and recharge. He really needed it, he'd worked all through his shift and then more, even Prowl took some time to recharge, and he was one of the worst mechs for work.

"Get some recharge, Ratchet." He told his friend while moving to the table in the middle of the room.

Really too shocked for words, Ratchet had no choice but to comply.

_X-X-X-X_

Ratchet booted up slowly, his systems lagging slightly as he willed his optics to brighten to the dimly lit room. The lights were on when he went into recharge, had Prime left him in his quarters, thinking he'd be in recharge all day? The mere thought made him scoff aloud.

He sat up on the berth and twisted his body to have his legs fall over the edge of the berth, noting how there was some space between his feet and the floor. He grumbled quietly to himself before slipping down of the berth carefully, his metal feet making a soft click with the floor as he stood upright. He stretched his arms up, testing the circuitry there, and then he shook both his legs out, waking them up a bit more.

The door to his Prime's room whooshed open.

"Oh, you're up? Good,"

There was a pause as the Leader of the Autobots stepped in through the door, his form moving slowly toward the medic.

He finished off with; "I brought you some energon." Prime smiled at his comrade and offered him the cube which Ratchet took with a grumbled 'thanks'.

Ratchet sipped at his cube slowly, not wanting to seem too eager to get some fuel into his systems, lest he wanted another bout of Prime's concern and be berthed for the rest of the Earth week. He looked about the room some more, his helm turning in every direction.

"I like this room," He paused to look back at Prime, "It's spacious." He concluded.

Optimus nodded his helm and nodded his head to the table that was set in the middle of the room. "Come, we have much to discuss."

As much as Ratchet loved helping Optimus with his future plans to stop the Decepticons, he felt that there was something else that needed discussing. "Yes, we do." He said with an inclination of his head.

He moved across the room, settling himself beside Prime, and just as Prime was about to speak; he cut him off.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something, and it's not something that can be ignored anymore." He told the bigger mech.

Optimus tilted his helm, his face plates contorted to ones of confusion. "And what might be the issue?" He asked outright.

He didn't believe in guessing since he figured that Ratchet would tell him in a moment, as was the medic's way. Ratchet always had a way of doing things, and if Optimus were to interrupt him at that moment, then he would have had a hard time getting the CMO to talk to him about it again. It was always like it, Ratchet would bottle things up and eventually they would explode all over the place; from losing his temper to a sobbing fit, and Prime hated seeing him in such a state. Never in his life had he seen Ratchet shed one tear, not even when his creator's had come to a horrible end, and then there it was; all the emotion and turmoil bottled up for Prime to pick up the pieces. He just sure hoped that Ratchet could continue and tell him what was on his processor.

Ratchet ventilated in large puffs of air; it was his way of cooling the waves of nervousness.

He gave another vent before speaking once more; "I've been thinking about..." He looked up at Prime who was still looking at him with the same expression, only this time, it held slight worry too. He sighed deeply and continued; "Prime, I finally want to settle down with a mech; you know, have a spark bond with him and maybe a sparkling," he paused once more, realising what he was saying; "Uh, in the near future." He concluded and then said; "And I want your permission to do it. Can you authorise that it's okay for me to settle down with a mech?" He asked.

Prime chuckled and shook his head gently, understanding fully.

"That is not my decision to make Ratchet; you've been able to make that decision on your own this whole time. There is no reason to ask for my permission." Optimus said calmly. "You deserve someone who can look after you old friend, someone who can meet your needs." He finished with a small smile.

As much as it hurt his spark to be saying these things, at least he knew that Ratchet didn't reciprocate his feelings in the least. It was hard to think of Ratchet with someone else, another mech of the ship no less. He wondered who could have caught his CMO's spark. Could it be Ironhide? The twins? Wheeljack? He just hoped that whoever they were, that they could make Ratchet happy.

Ratchet vented sharply once more. '_I can't believe I'm going to say this._'

"Then take me, Prime." He said simply.

When Optimus stopped completely, frozen in place, his optics brighter than usual in what Ratchet deemed to be shock. Oh, what had he gone and gotten himself into? Had he just ruined, what he deemed, a valuable friendship? He felt his cooling lines run cold as the realisation dawned on him; he'd just told the _Prime_ that he was his.

Optimus continued to stare into space, his face plates twitching to a slight upwards angle, something that resembled that of a smile.

"Do you understand what you are asking, Ratchet?" He asked the CMO, meeting his optics. "Are you certain that you-"

"_For frags sake Prime_! Of course I'm certain I want you, I've been pining after you for the last couple about months while being here on Earth." He sat forward in his chair, taking one of Prime's servos in his own two. "And if you'll have me, Prime, I promise you that you'll never be alone, and you know how well kept I am about my promises." He told his Leader.

Optimus frowned and shook slightly in irritation.

"What have I told you about calling me _Prime_? I keep telling you to call me _Optimus_." He told his CMO while looking defiantly at him. "And I think that you have missed my advances also." He told the medic.

Ratchet nodded.

"I know, I just didn't think you meant what you were doing, I mean, you are pretty young _Orion_." He used his old name with a grin, his confidence showing through that single gesture. "I'm in love with you." He told the other while moving in closer, one servo reaching up to a cup a metal plated cheek. "Do you accept my offer?" He asked.

Optimus felt his spark well up with joy; never had he thought that his own medic would truly confess to him. It didn't even happen in the dreams that his processor seemed to come up with.

He grabbed onto Ratchets servos between his bigger ones and brought them up, kissing them gently.

"Of course, but only if you accept me?" Prime offered with a soft smile.

Ratchet chuckled and gave a nod.

He was then delightfully surprised to be hauled up and into his Prime, his lips locked onto the others lip plates in a gentle kiss. It was over before he could even respond thought, which brought on the utmost frustration in him.

Optimus chuckled as he pulled his CMO into his lap some more, having the mech sit astride him. He held Ratchet to him, his head buried in the other mechs neck cables. "Hmm, I love you too, Ratchet." He told the other before pressing a gentle kiss to Ratchet's neck cables, and then another, he trailed gentle butterfly kisses up along the red and white mechs jaw line. Strangled moans escaping his medics lips as he went. He locked lips with the other mech once more, his lip plates moving in steady motions over the others.

He pulled away once more, his lip plates smiling at his medic who was flustered beyond belief. He rested his fore helm against Ratchet's and stared into his optics, a soft glow flowing from his optics and hopefully into Ratchet's spark.

"Optimus..." Ratchet whispered while smiling back, he gently nuzzled into Prime's helm before kissing his Leader on the cheek and moving off of him, and with great effort too since his Leader didn't seem to want to let him.

It was going to be much different from then on out, and Ratchet welcomed the unfamiliar territory with open arms.

_X-X-X-X_

_((Voyeur))_

"SON OF A GLITCH!" The tremendous shout echoed off of the walls of their base in deep tremors, angry sounding curses filled the twin's audials as they heard the clang and crash of equipment falling and smashing. Instruments clanged and clunked against the floor, the sound of a welder hissing to life, and then dying.

The two rushed to the med bay, worse case scenarios playing over and over in their processors as they tried to assess what they were up against; obviously, the two were hell bent on a fight, but with whom they were not certain. Whoever it was had better be ready for them to step up and protect Ratchet though, seeing as they were particularly fond of the CMO lately. The knowledge of him getting them together in the first place, having them stop pranking him with the nasty stuff and left poor Ironhide open for their torture.

Suddenly, Sideswipe stopped. He felt his brother/lover bump into his back as he stared at what was before him.

Cooling fans echoed in his audials as he saw that Prime was between the medic's legs, pinning Ratchet to one of the med berths, the sounds of both the medic and his Leader crying out reached their audials before either could tune them out; and they noted that it was Ratchet more than Prime. He could see that Ratchet was pinned by Prime's servo on his back, holding the other down against the berth, his other servo holding his medics hip. Primes hips were gyrating, hitting Ratchet's hips full on; the servo against Ratchet's hip obviously tightening as the sound of the metal squeaking under the pressure hit the twin's audials.

Ratchet was panting, his own hips moving slightly, only to be slammed into by Primes, which had him placing his own hips against the edge of the berth. His spike was just underneath (_and Sideswipe noted the size for future reference, in other words, blackmail),_ Primes spike was buried deep within Ratchet, but upon pulling out, Sideswipe could see the length and girth of said Prime, his Leader. Their interface panels were strewn on the floor of the med bay as the two intermingled together.

Sideswipe caught Prime's hushed: "Nearly there, Ratchet." His servo moved off of Ratchets back and joined his other in holding onto the other hip unoccupied. "You... Almost there, Ratch'?" A '_Ah, yeah!_' from below was all the answer Sideswipe needed to hear when he saw the medic start to seize up, his whole body tightening and then a thunderous roar of pleasure spewed from his lips as he let his transfluid loose onto the floor of the med bay. "_Ratchet!_" He caught just as Prime slumped against the back of the medic, his own overload obviously being brought about by Ratchet's probably tightening valve.

Sunstreaker then decided to jump in, his servo on Sideswipes shoulder, pulling him away from the scene which had turned tender after the vigorous love making.

Sunstreaker slapped his bonded on the shoulder and fixed him with a glare, before he gave the other an angrily whispered; "You're such a voyeur! I can't believe you just watched those two go at it!"

Sideswipe looked at him sceptically. "You were watching too, and you have to admit, it was pretty hot." He paused to grin at his lover knowingly. "I never knew either had it in them; to do it in the med bay I mean." Sideswipe watched as Sunstreaker crossed his arms over his chassis, obviously holding Sideswipe away from his spark. Sideswipe grinned and grabbed a hold of his bonded by his hips, making the other uncross his arms. "I love you 'Streaker, you're the hottest fragger on this whole base, so don't be insecure about it." He said while kissing his twin gently.

Sunstreaker nodded and rolled his optics. "Okay, but can we go somewhere else, before we get caught?" He asked gently, his face plates heating up.

Sideswipe chuckled.

"Whatever you say, Lover." The two walked back down to their own berth room, hopefully to get a repeat of what they just saw, but not in such a public place.

_X-X-X-X_

_((Protection))_

Ratchet quickly changed out of his alt form, moving over to an unarmed Ironhide. He began working on his arm, fixing the gun and his other fixtures. Fire from overhead had him and Ironhide ducking out of the way, both rolling in separate ways and splitting up. He watched as Ironhide pulled up his gun and fired his hits almost dead on, but not quite. He figured it would do for the time being and turned his attention to the rest of his team.

Prime, on his back, Megatron over him, fusion canon poised at his bonded's face, face guard in hand. Ratchet wasted no time as he lifted his gun up and shot, watching as Megatron flew backward a step and Prime quickly got up, looking back briefly to see who his saviour was. His exposed face plates showed the tell tale smile of his bonded and Ratchet winked an optic at him before rushing off to sort out the other 'bots in need.

_X-X-X-X_

_((Cliffside stars))_

Optimus changed out of his alt form and looked out over the Cliffside, his optics resting on a star that shone brighter than the rest. His face plates formed a smile, a soft one that he held just for his bonded. Much had happened between the two, and he had to admit that he loved the change; he embraced it with all of his might, hoping to keep an eye on it in order to stay on track.

He looked back at the sound of someone else switching alts behind him, Ratchet stood there with his own smile directed at Prime.

They'd been planning a trip like that for months, wanting to just sit in each other's presence without any disturbances from the Decepticons or the 'bots about the base. Wheeljack and First Aid were in charge of the med bay, and Prowl and Jazz were in command while the Prime was gone. Everything had been planned perfectly, and he certainly hoped that they could go on many trips like those in the future.

_X-X-X-X_

_GAAAAHHH! I wrote a Transformers fic! OH MY GAWD! :D And I'm actually HAPPY with a submission for a change! :D _

_I hope you guys enjoy this one; I was recently inspired by a dear friend of mine; 'spoon-of-doom' and her stories; 'Of Flesh and Metal', 'Benefits of Sobriety' and 'Structure and Discipline'._

_If you can think of a title, I'll be your friend forever... Haha. :P_


End file.
